Important as the START Treaty and Afghan Wars may be, the most important single national security decision the US must make over the next six months is almost certainly its future civil and military posture in Iraq. The US cannot control the future shape of its strategic...

President Barack Obama’s new strategy for Afghanistan is critically dependent on the transfer of security responsibility to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). His speech announcing this strategy called for the transfer to begin in mid-2011. However, creating...

The role of private security companies has been a constant source of concern and trouble in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Such forces are essential in nations which do not yet have adequate security forces or a rule of law but can quickly become a “necessary...

The US faces growing pressure on its defense spending. The US needs to make fundamental changes in the way it develops its strategy, and its long term defense planning, programming and budgeting. The need for these changes is analyzed in two new studies by the Burke...

The US faces growing pressure on its defense spending. The US needs to make fundamental changes in the way it develops its strategy, and its long term defense planning, programming and budgeting. The need for these changes is analyzed in a new study by the Burke...

The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) recently issued updated information on the IED threat in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Burke Chair has prepared short analyses of the trends in the data for both Iraq and Afghanistan, which are now available...

The US faces growing pressures on its defense spending. The US is still dealing with two ongoing wars and has a very different role in global power projection than its allies. So far, it has not made realistic efforts to project the cost of these wars in its defense...

The Department of Defense has proposed a new series of arms transfers to Saudi Arabia whose cost could eventually total up to $60 billion. A new analysis by the Burke Chair indicates that these transfers serve the vital national security interest of both nations. ...

One should never judge whether the glass is half empty or half full while it is still being poured. The review of progress in Afghanistan due in December 2010 is definitely a case of prematurely assessing the situation and can provide only a limited picture of...

The Southern Gulf states, the region, and the US all face a rapidly changing threat environment in the Gulf, and a sharply rising need for defense cooperation. These needs, and the changes in threat and military balance that shape them, are described in detail in a...